Prime Minister John Key says the Te Tai Tokerau by-election was an expensive waste of time.
Hone Harawira, the leader of the Mana Party he launched last month, won with a majority of 867 votes over Labour's Kelvin Davis.
At the 2008 election Mr Harawira, standing for the Maori Party, had won the seat by 6308 votes.
Speaking en route to India, John Key said hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars has been spent to end up in the same position.
He said Mr Harawira cannot really claim victory because his majority has been slashed.
The Prime Minister said the general election is only five months away and that's when the country will really go to the polls.
